same problem twice:(

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I've made two batches of fruit wine so far, one plum batch and one watermelon batch. I feel like the alcohol overpowers the taste of the fruit though. Did i let it ferment too long?? Thanks!
 
More likely to be too much sugar in the first place. Do you know what your specific gravities were?

Steve
 
I agree, sounds like you had too high of a starting gravity on your wine whic most recipes on the internet result in. Most fruit wies should have a starting sg of 1.095 max and thats a little high still for most.
 
starting was around 1.09 or so, and I thought it seemed really high, so maybe I won't use as much sugar... The next recipe I have calls for 1 3/4 pounds of sugar per gallon (blueberry wine). Should I stick to that, or take some off?
 
Try half the sugar, check the sg, and then decide.

Steve
 
Speed of fermentation and temp(go together) will make wine taste like rocket fuel as well. if sg was 1.09 to start. This is just a possibility. I am in to lower fermentation temp lately. Got to see how every variable works on every kinda wine :) this could take the rest of my life.....hopefully
 
Have you found that your wine comes out better when it ferments at a lower temperature? What temperatures have you seen work best?
 
Flavor seems to hold alittle better, this week I pushed the temp on a Chardonnay I have down to 66 as soon as it got going, had to raise it back up to 69 to get it going again. I think 68 is as low as I plan on for this wine. BTW it has been fermenting now for 4 weeks and is at 1.00. In a few weeks I will taste it if its finished, Miss Jane , who drinks the most Chardonnay and the person whos taste I lean toward, like it powder dry
 
Welcome aboard. If the SG was around 1.090 then you aren't too far off the target range. I would look at the amount of fruit in the recipes. As Wade mentioned, many of the recipes floating around out there and even quite a few from the popular books out there aren't really very good recipes and I find many of them very light on the amount of fruit needed. For example, we see many blueberry or blackberry recipes that call for 2-3 pounds of fruit per gallon. Many of us find it takes at minimal 5 pounds of fruit per gallon. If the amount was too low and/or extraction was not optimal that could be another area to look at in your process.
 
Smurf,
You took the words right out of my mouth...
Just started a Blackberry 36# for 6 gallon batch
 
i also agree with smurfe. sound advice.

do you all measure the sg in the first day of making or right before putting in yeast with wine solids (not just juices)?

i would say, it could be a combination of a lighter wine with more abv.

OP> what could the yeast used yield in abv? basically, how strong is the yeast as some can get pretty high.
 
In this situation I don't think the yeast was a factor. You only have "x" amount of potential with a particular starting gravity. This SG, if measured correctly is definitely not out of the ball park for a hot tasting wine. 1.085-1.090 are always my targets for a fruit wine. My guess would be either as I said, too little fruit or poor extraction of the fruit or too fast of fermentation with resulting fusel alcohols in the wine.

Another question to the original poster. I don't remember reading but did you sweeten the wine? I can't scroll to your original post from this post page to re-read your OP. If so, how/what did you sweeten with? Also, did you stabilize before you sweetened if you indeed did sweeten?
 
I did not sweeten these particular wines. But looking back on it, the recipes that I have DO seem really weak in the amount of fruit needed.
 

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